Singapore sees largest IPO listing in 6 years in Q3 2017: EY

SINGAPORE saw the largest initial public offering (IPO) in six years in its market through September, according to data in the latest EY (Ernst & Young) Global IPO Trends: Q3 2017.

Homegrown telecoms company NetLink NBN Trust raised US$1.7 billion on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in July, making it the largest IPO in Asia-Pacific in Q3 2017, and the second-largest listing globally.

It was also over-subscribed by 100 per cent, highlighting investors' demand for good quality IPOs at the right price.

The SGX also saw a flurry of three IPOs in the month of July, with one on the mainboard and two IPOs on Catalist; but the 13 IPOs during the first nine months of 2017 was a slight decline from 15 for the same period last year.

The SGX has enjoyed growing success in attracting cross-border listings of South-east Asian companies, and these included the IPOs of Aspen Group and Shopper360 Ltd, a Malaysian provider of shopper marketing services, listed in June.

The Asia-Pacific continued to dominate the global IPO markets in Q3 2017, accounting for 65 per cent of global IPOs and 49 per cent of global capital raised.

For the first nine months of 2017, the region has seen a total of 690 IPOs raising US$53.9 billion, confirming its position as the world's most active region for new listings.

According to the trend report, worldwide public listings are on track to register their best year since 2007, with the number of IPOs seen so far this year already surpassing the full-year figures for 2016.

There had been 1,156 public listings done - an increase of 59 per cent by number compared to a year ago, raising US$126.9 billion, 55 per cent more than at the same time last year.